This patent document relates to a multiple position electrical switch. Such a type of switch may be, for example, used on board a motor vehicle to control the supply of electrical power to a motor actuating an accessory or an equipment item such as, for example, a seat adjustment motor.
As is known, such a switch is required to provide its user with a tactile sensation of the changes in switching state.
Examples of multiple position electrical switches are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,382,166 and 4,436,971, which teach that it is known practice for the actuating means that act on a mobile contact blade to comprise an intermediate force transmitting lever which is mounted so as to pivot with respect to a casing and which is interposed between the actuating member and the mobile contact blade so as to transmit, to part of the mobile contact blade, the actuating force which is applied to it by the actuating member.
Another example of such a switch is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,089,715, in which the U-section fixed support bearing the blade is a one-piece component made of metal cut from a thick plate and bent. Because of this design, the dimensional variations on the fixed support in mass manufacture and in operation do make it possible reliably to obtain performance and operating conditions that are repeatable from one switch to another and/or during use. This is notably because of the forces that the mobile contact blade applies to it.
The disclosure of each of the patents listed above are fully incorporated into this document by reference.